Chapter Summaries

After Tian Fen’s banquet, Chen He realized that Tian Fen’s wind-flight ability and ancestral scroll suggested a connection to the Immortal Court, and he resolved to cultivate their relationship for access to life-extending elixirs. Back at his residence, Chen He refused to give his half brother Chen Zhang the two hundred taels of gold he requested to treat his sick wife, unless Chen Zhang could win the Empress’s favor.

• Tian Fen politely invited Divine Lord Zhenyuan to stay, but Zhenyuan said he would eventually leave Chang’an and head west.
• After the banquet, Tian Fen practiced flying through his rear courtyard while drunk, using pointers he had received from Zhenyuan.
• Chen He recognized Tian Fen’s flight and painted scroll as signs of an Immortal Court connection and decided to seek his favor for life-extending elixirs.
• Chen Zhang asked Chen He for two hundred taels of gold to buy medicine for his sick wife, Shao'er.
• Chen He criticized Chen Zhang’s marriage and palace assignment, then made the loan conditional on Chen Zhang winning the Empress’s favor.

After returning from the banquet, Zhang Xuezhou gave Rong Tianding a damaged bronze burner and considered seeking the Life-Extending Golden Elixir to protect his parents. The grand empress dowager offered him the burner's missing lid in exchange for arranging Divine Lord Zhenyuan's visit to the Palace of Peace and Happiness.

• Zhang Xuezhou returned to the Zhang residence with Divine Lord Zhenyuan and called for Rong Tianding.
• Zhang Xuezhou worried that his aging parents would die before him and decided that traveling with Li Shaojun to the Immortal Court was necessary to seek a Life-Extending Golden Elixir.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan told Lady Yourong and Zhang Zhong that he planned to leave Chang'an for Soul-Severing Ridge, twelve thousand li to the west.
• Rong Tianding examined the bronze burner and discovered that it was a damaged treasure missing its lid, which was needed to contain Yin entities.
• The grand empress dowager told Zhang Xuezhou that she had knocked off the burner's lid and would give it to him if he arranged for Divine Lord Zhenyuan to visit the Palace of Peace and Happiness.

Divine Lord Zhenyuan agreed to visit the Grand Empress Dowager at the Palace of Peace and Happiness rather than risk owing Dao Lord a favor. While Zhang Xuezhou went with him, Yi Shuo arrived at the Zhang residence seeking help for injuries suffered during her confinement.

• Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Divine Lord Zhenyuan that meeting the Grand Empress Dowager might bring fewer complications than accepting help from Dao Lord.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan decided to visit the Palace of Peace and Happiness and flew there with Zhang Xuezhou under cover of night.
• Rong Tianding explained Zhang Xuezhou’s sudden departure to Lady Yourong and Zhang Zhong, then prepared to return to his residence.
• Yi Shuo climbed into the courtyard and told Rong Tianding she had escaped confinement but needed Brother Dongfang to treat her injuries.
• Rong Tianding saw Yi Shuo’s bruises and needle wounds and brought her inside to wait for Zhang Xuezhou.

Divine Lord Zhenyuan brought Zhang Xuezhou to the Palace of Peace and Happiness, where the Grand Empress Dowager sought his help amid the Great Han Dynasty’s calamities. After smelling the Sha Qi surrounding her, Zhenyuan floated over the screen and considered her an excellent offering for cultivating the Myriad Longevity Fruit Tree.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan carried Zhang Xuezhou to the Palace of Peace and Happiness and called out to the people below rather than entering its formations by force.
• Grand Princess Dou welcomed Divine Lord Zhenyuan and led him into the hall to meet the ailing Grand Empress Dowager.
• Zhang Xuezhou stayed outside with Grand Princess Dou and reassured her that Divine Lord Zhenyuan was kindhearted and clear-minded.
• The Grand Empress Dowager offered the strength of the Palace of Peace and Happiness in exchange for Divine Lord Zhenyuan’s help.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan smelled the Sha Qi around the Grand Empress Dowager, floated over the screen, and saw her as a possible offering for the Myriad Longevity Fruit Tree.

Zhang Xuezhou spoke with Grand Princess Dou about his illness and Chunyu Tiying while Divine Lord Zhenyuan told the Grand Empress Dowager he could not heal her. The Grand Empress Dowager offered him power in exchange for protecting Great Han, but he made his own demands, leaving her to decide whether to accept his uncertain bargain.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Grand Princess Dou that no physician had cured his illness and complained about Chunyu Tiying, while she encouraged him to seek her help again.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan told the Grand Empress Dowager he could not heal her, though his tree could remove the afflictions from her body after her death.
• The Grand Empress Dowager, fearing for Great Han, offered Divine Lord Zhenyuan the Palace of Peace and Happiness and the position of imperial preceptor if he swore to protect the dynasty.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan refused the offer and instead asked to borrow a protective formation and obtain fine cloth for a Law Treasure, promising to help her after resolving his own problem.
• The Grand Empress Dowager considered the risks of his demands and resolved to make the final great wager of her life.

Zhang Xuezhou discovered that the Grand Empress Dowager had secretly come to the Zhang residence wearing a gold-threaded jade burial suit. Divine Lord Zhenyuan asked him to help take her to the Myriad Longevity Fruit Tree so it could suppress her Corpse Sha Qi, leaving Zhang to prepare for another journey to Soul-Severing Ridge.

• After Divine Lord Zhenyuan visited the Palace of Peace and Happiness, the Grand Empress Dowager ordered Grand Princess Dou to transfer heavy formation components to him and announced that she would enter secluded cultivation.
• Zhang Xuezhou returned to the Zhang residence, saw the injured Yi Shuo, and recognized a corpse stench mixed with fragrance from the Palace of Peace and Happiness.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered Divine Lord Zhenyuan's room and found the Grand Empress Dowager wearing a gold-threaded jade burial suit that suppressed her Corpse Sha Qi.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan explained that the Grand Empress Dowager wanted the Myriad Longevity Fruit Tree to drain her Corpse Sha Qi so her body could be preserved after death and she could be buried beside her husband.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan asked Zhang Xuezhou to help carry the Grand Empress Dowager to Soul-Severing Ridge and back.

The Grand Empress Dowager questioned why Divine Lord Zhenyuan had invited Zhang Xuezhou and learned that Zhang had overcome his damaged Heaven and Earth Bridges to reach the Divine Ability Realm. As she prepared to travel with him, she struggled to explain his recovery and ultimately held back her suspicions and murderous impulses.

• The Grand Empress Dowager wondered why Divine Lord Zhenyuan had invited Zhang Xuezhou, whom she had believed too weak to be useful.
• The Grand Empress Dowager worried that her Sha Qi might infect Zhang during their journey, but Divine Lord Zhenyuan said Zhang's Law Power would protect him.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan revealed that Zhang Xuezhou had long since become a Divine Ability cultivator, shocking the Grand Empress Dowager.
• The Grand Empress Dowager sensed Zhang's powerful Supreme Purity True Technique and accepted that his cultivation had advanced despite his skull injury.
• The Grand Empress Dowager considered whether Li Guang or the Immortal Court had enabled Zhang's recovery, then abandoned her thoughts of attacking him.

Zhang Xuezhou carried the grand empress dowager west with Divine Lord Zhenyuan and told her how Liu Wu died. After learning that Emperor Jing summoned the Red Empyrean Sword to kill Liu Wu, she realized King of Huainan Liu An threatened the new emperor and chose to rely on Zhang Xuezhou to help protect him.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan flew west with the grand empress dowager on the Cloud Sedan, and Zhang revealed that he had once ridden King of Liang Liu Wu's sedan.
• The grand empress dowager asked Zhang how Liu Wu had died, and he explained that Emperor Jing had summoned the Red Empyrean Sword during the battle of Fortune Techniques.
• The grand empress dowager realized Liu An had witnessed the Red Empyrean Sword's choice and would likely become an enemy of Liu Che.
• After reasoning that Zhang had secretly witnessed the battle and cultivated Fortune Techniques, the grand empress dowager chose him to help protect the new emperor.

Zhang Xuezhou traveled with the Grand Empress Dowager as she explained the threats facing the Great Han Dynasty and the factions competing within its court. He declined her implied request to take responsibility, citing his serious illness, and the Grand Empress Dowager was left frustrated that her dying charge might be useless.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained the regions they passed through while the Grand Empress Dowager shared her knowledge of Great Han territory.
• The Grand Empress Dowager warned Zhang Xuezhou to keep the Heavenly Court, Immortal Court, Northern Kuru Continent powers, Xiong State, and vassal states in check.
• The Grand Empress Dowager described the court's factions and warned Zhang Xuezhou that General Li Guang wanted to restore the Human Emperor's old system.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked why she was telling him so much and refused to take on the dynasty's problems, saying his illness left him unable to act.
• The Grand Empress Dowager grew frustrated because Zhang Xuezhou's condition made it difficult for her dying charge to have any effect.

The Grand Empress Dowager urged Zhang Xuezhou to help the new emperor against Liu An and argued that Emperor Jing had left him a gift through his Fortune. As they crossed into the Western Yi, her borrowed lifespan failed, and Divine Lord Zhenyuan warned that he and Zhang Xuezhou could suffer a similar fate if the Myriad Longevity Fruit’s flaws remained unresolved.

• The Grand Empress Dowager tried to persuade Zhang Xuezhou to help the new emperor deal with Liu An, but he refused and said he had no ties to Emperor Jing.
• She explained that Emperor Jing’s Fortune had blessed Zhang Xuezhou and would eventually deliver him a gift, leading him to consider the Marquis of Sui’s Pearl he had received from Kong Anguo.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the Grand Empress Dowager crossed out of Great Han territory into the Western Yi, where she could no longer draw on the dynasty’s Fortune.
• The Grand Empress Dowager grew weak and begged Zhang Xuezhou to help Che'er before sinking into a stupor.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan said the Grand Empress Dowager’s borrowed lifespan had ended and warned that the Myriad Longevity Fruit could leave him and Zhang Xuezhou as living corpses too.

Divine Lord Zhenyuan and Zhang Xuezhou buried the still-living Grand Empress Dowager beneath the Myriad Longevity Fruit Tree, then rapidly established the foundation of a Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation at Soul-Severing Ridge. As Divine Lord Zhenyuan planned an ambitious construction project, a painful voice sounded underground and a great flame-wreathed bird rose into the air, changing the world before Zhang Xuezhou’s eyes.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan buried the Grand Empress Dowager beneath the Myriad Longevity Fruit Tree, expecting it to drain her borrowed life.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan brought out the formation materials and asked Zhang Xuezhou to help set up the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan installed the formation stones and trigram stones at Soul-Severing Ridge in about a day and a night.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan tested the formation, then envisioned building nine palaces and eight courtyards to unlock its full powers.
• Zhang Xuezhou heard a painful voice beneath the ground, and a great bird wreathed in flames rose as the world around him changed.

The Grand Empress Dowager searched the Fortune Technique space for Zhang Xuezhou, but his concealed Fortune Body remained hidden until she was close to death. Zhang Xuezhou finally appeared and destroyed her Fortune Body, leaving her questions unanswered.

• The Grand Empress Dowager awakened in the Fortune Technique space and swept it with flames, demanding that Zhang Xuezhou show himself.
• She searched for Zhang Xuezhou and criticized his defensive ability, realizing that his Grain Avoidance skill could let him endure a Fortune War for twelve days or longer.
• The Grand Empress Dowager admitted that her buried fleshly body was failing and asked Zhang Xuezhou to shatter her Fortune Body.
• Zhang Xuezhou appeared as a three-legged fish-dragon with Zhu Jiuyin's sun-and-moon eyes, surprising the Grand Empress Dowager with his strength.
• Zhang Xuezhou seized the flaming pearl, and the Grand Empress Dowager's great flaming bird crumbled into fiery rain.

Zhang Xuezhou survived a contest of Fortune Techniques with the Grand Empress Dowager and gained a flame bead, while Divine Lord Zhenyuan completed the sacrifice that produced a Myriad Longevity Fruit. wary of the Grand Empress Dowager’s final gift and its possible costs, Zhang Xuezhou left Soul-Severing Ridge with Divine Lord Zhenyuan to find food and headed toward a settlement.

• Zhang Xuezhou defeated the Grand Empress Dowager in their Fortune Techniques contest and claimed a flame bead that he could use as an attack.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan confirmed that the Myriad Longevity Fruit had formed after the Grand Empress Dowager’s sacrificial offering was absorbed, and showed Zhang Xuezhou her body.
• Zhang Xuezhou respected the Grand Empress Dowager but worried that accepting her gift could draw him into a future Fortune War or create other obligations.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan concealed the fruit tree and formation, then proposed flying to a human settlement three hundred li away for food.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed to go with Divine Lord Zhenyuan and said he was skilled at guiding sacrifices and earning people’s respect.

Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan followed a river after failing to find the Supi Kingdom, only to discover its tiny fish poisoned Divine Lord Zhenyuan. At the river’s source, they found worshippers bathing around a spring and uncovered a Spirit Root Cynomorium.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan flew across desolate land, growing hungry and searching for a river and signs of people.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan drank from the river, then vomited water and countless tiny fish that had hatched inside him.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan suspected something at the river’s source was causing the fish to hatch and traveled upstream.
• Zhang Xuezhou found more than a hundred women bathing at the spring and several dozen men praying beside it.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan swept the women from the spring and revealed a milky-white Spirit Root Cynomorium at its mouth.

Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan discovered an enormous, extraordinary cynomorium and dug it up to test its effects. After eating a few bites, Divine Lord Zhenyuan regained a youthful appearance and rapidly recovered his Law Power.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan explained that the aged cynomorium could lock in vital essence and might protect their illusory lifespans.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan drove away the people at the spring and identified their leader as the Queen of Supi, then arranged for them to sacrifice cattle and sheep.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan and Zhang Xuezhou dug into the riverbed and uncovered a cynomorium several zhang long.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan cut off a piece of the cynomorium and ate it to test whether he had identified it correctly.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan's hair turned black, his complexion improved, and his Law Power rapidly surged back as he ate.

Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan tested the Cynomorium and found that it restored Qi, Blood, and Law Power without any obvious harm. Zhang Xuezhou discovered that it locked his damaged Heaven and Earth Bridges, while the pair began investigating a possible connection between the Cynomorium, the river fish, and the Supi people's fertility.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan reported that the Cynomorium restored his Qi, Blood, and Law Power, and Zhang Xuezhou confirmed its juice was harmless to him.
• Zhang Xuezhou ate the Cynomorium and found that its flesh activated Law Power while its effects dispelled his Aging Technique and renewed his appearance.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan observed Zhang Xuezhou eating more and heard him discover that the Cynomorium had locked his damaged Heaven and Earth Bridges, raising his potential cultivation limit.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained ecosystems to Divine Lord Zhenyuan, who examined the small fish in the river and asked what they ate.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan questioned the Supi people about the holy water and learned that drinking river water caused stomach pain, while spring water did not.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan suspected that the Supi people's account might reveal another mystery connecting the local water and the Cynomorium.

Divine Lord Zhenyuan and Zhang Xuezhou ate more of the seemingly miraculous Cynomorium, only to discover that most of the Law Power it produced could not be used. As their Qi and Blood and trapped Law Power continued to swell, they rushed to find cultivation methods that could consume them before their bodies were damaged.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan investigated a hot spring and concluded that its mineral-rich water had poisoned the little fish.
• They returned to the Cynomorium and ate more, hoping to replenish Divine Lord Zhenyuan's Law Power and strengthen Zhang Xuezhou's Heaven and Earth Bridges.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan tried to unleash his Yin-Yang Great Millstone and discovered that most of the newly generated Law Power was locked inside his body.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan realized that the Cynomorium's power would keep accumulating even if they stopped eating it, risking damage to their acupoints and meridians.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan urged them to practice methods that consumed both Qi and Blood and Law Power, while worrying that Zhang Xuezhou might not survive the danger.

After the Cynomorium trapped and amplified the powers in their bodies, Zhang Xuezhou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan struggled to survive. Zhang Xuezhou flew toward the poison tree on Soul-Severing Ridge seeking a way to advance his cultivation, while Divine Lord Zhenyuan was left to fight the effects himself.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan told Zhang Xuezhou that he could not remove the scattered Cynomorium or use his depleted Law Power to help him.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized that his abundant Demon Power was swelling alongside his Law Power and Qi and Blood, threatening to tear his body apart.
• Zhang Xuezhou flew toward the poison tree on Soul-Severing Ridge, hoping its leaves might rapidly advance his cultivation and help him expend the excess power.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan watched Zhang Xuezhou depart, then suffered stabbing pains and struggled to cultivate away the power in his own body.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan cursed the Cynomorium and vowed to deal with it if he survived.

After the poison tree’s leaves failed to have their former effect, Zhang Xuezhou used the Fleshly Body Technique to strengthen his body against the surging powers within him. He made rapid progress, but his Qi and Blood ran out before he reached two thousand acupoints, leaving the pain from his Demon Power and Law Power to return.

• Zhang Xuezhou returned to Soul-Severing Ridge and found the poison tree still alive, though much of it had withered and taken root as smaller trees.
• Zhang Xuezhou ate the tree’s remaining green leaves, but their changed taste showed that they no longer produced the effect he needed.
• As his Qi and Blood swelled and his body began to turn red and purple, Zhang Xuezhou decided to risk cultivating the One Hundred and Eight Thousand Acupoints Fleshly Body Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou rapidly strengthened acupoints starting with the one thousand and first, and his growing strength slowed the stinging pain.
• After about an hour, Zhang Xuezhou’s Qi and Blood were suppressed before he reached two thousand acupoints, while the pain from his Demon Power and Law Power began to return.

Divine Lord Zhenyuan recovered from the Cynomorium’s effects and went searching for Zhang Xuezhou, fearing he had been killed. He found Zhang Xuezhou alive but struggling to contain the power inside him, and the chapter left them considering another dose of Cynomorium as his only way to survive.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan struggled with the excess Qi and Blood from the Cynomorium and realized his strength and spellcasting remained impaired.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan searched for Zhang Xuezhou’s remains but found him alive at Soul-Severing Ridge, cultivating his Fleshly Body to withstand the power inside him.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Divine Lord Zhenyuan for Qi-and-Blood medicines or demons to make Blood Essence, but Divine Lord Zhenyuan had neither available.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan suggested the Cynomorium as the only nearby medicine that could boost Zhang Xuezhou’s Qi and Blood.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan warned that taking more Cynomorium could worsen Zhang Xuezhou’s condition unless his Fleshly Body cultivation advanced faster than the power it produced.